How India can build Next Gen Tejas MK-II on lines of Gripen E
May 30, 2016 by
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SOURCE: VISHAL KARPE / FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG
Swedish Aerospace giant Saab recently rolled out Next Generation Gripen E Smart fighter jets in its factory in Linkoping which was attended by close to 500 people . It will be foolish to say that Gripen E is just another upgraded variant since the aircraft not only has greater fuel carrying capacity but also has 20 percent more thrust, comes with more pylons, in-flight refuelling capability and increased take-off weight.
In short it’s a quantum jump in Airpower technology when compared to its older variant and can serve has 4.5 ++ Generation Point Air defence fighter jets in the light category of fighter jets and one of the best alternative to cheap 4.5++ Generation aircraft when compared to other Western fighter jets leaving a side Russian and Chinese offers .
India’s very own indigenous LCA-Tejas program will see a development of Tejas Mk-1A variant which is a stopgap measurement initiated by Government of India and India Air Force to meet immediate needs of the air force and will fall in between Tejas MK1 and Tejas MK-II . The fate of Airforce version of Tejas MK-II is yet to be made clear but has now Indian Navy plans to continue development of LCA Navy MK-II based on new stretched airframe powered by new GE-F414IN engines developing more thrust while IAF will take a call on the MK-2 program at a later stage .
Development of Gripen E by SAAB should encourage Indian Agencies to adopt similar path in developing Tejas / LCA MK-2 to make Next Generation of smart fighter which can replace nearly 300 Light class of aircraft which Indian Air Force will need to replace its retiring Mig-21 and Mig-27 fighter jets from its fleet .
Gripen E vs LCA- Tejas MK-II
For long Gripen vs LCA-Tejas comparison debate has been waged online by supporters of the both the fighter jets but further here we will continue to explore technology which SAAB was able to integrate into their latest Gripen variant and how India can take clues from them in developing LCA- Tejas MK-II.
Avionics
AESA FCR
Open Architecture of Avionics is what India will continue to adopt in MK-2 variant like we have seen in Gripen E . AESA Fire Control radar is what both Aircraft will have onboard While Gripen E will have come with Selex ES-05 Raven AESA Radar which will deliver enhanced detection performance in air-to-air and air-to-ground modes, plus a synthetic aperture radar mapping function.
Tejas MK-2 likely will be powered by Indigenously developed Uttam AESAR FCR AESA or might carrying on using ELTA developed EL/M-2052 which HAL plans to use on Tejas MK-1A which has a longer detection range, high mission reliability and a multi-target tracking capability of up to 64 targets.
IRST
Gripen E will also feature infra-red search and track (IRST) system to track and detect objects which give off infrared radiation . IRST has not been planned for MK-2 .
Unified EW System.
Both Gripen E and MK-2 will boost of unified electronic warfare (EW) suite and a radar warning receiver (RWR). Tejas MK-1A will see the use of EW Suite integrated into a Pod to be carried externally on a pylon , Gripen E and MK-2 will have EW Suite integrated into its airframe .
Engines
MK-2 will be powered by American General Electric developed F414-GE-INS6 delivering 98kN of thrust while Gripen E is powered by American General Electric developed F414-GE-39E delivering 98kN of thrust . Both Engines specification wise on paper are same but incorporate some hardware and material changes as requested by users and customised according to requirements laid out by SAAB and DRDO/HAL .
In-flight refuelling probe
Both aircraft will feature In-flight Retractable refuelling probe which will further enhance its range and both aircraft will also have higher internal fuel carrying capacity .
Weapons
Gripen E comes with landing gears which are placed further away from its main Fuselage and close to its wings allowing it to have 10 Pylon station which in turn allows it to carry more weapons in a single sortie , use of Missile Eject Launcher pylons underbelly of Gripen E allows it to position additional Pylon stations . MK-2 will have 8 Pylon stations like it was in MK-1 Airframe and might not see radical changes in landing gear positions in MK-2 airframe to accommodate additional Pylon stations as seen on Gripen E .
Conclusion : India should fast track development of Tejas MK-2 since IAF will need 250 + aircraft from light class category and homegrown LCA-Tejas should be the only aircraft India should procure in this class while it can learn from SAAB how to develop MK-2 variant .
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